Understanding the effect of flooding on Great Lakes cities and identify strategies to manage the problem of urban flooding. The effects of urban flooding—sewer backups, basement seepage, property damage, and street ponding—collectively cause millions of dollars of damage each year, the survey encourages collaboration among utilities and municipalities, partners and investors in Great Lakes cities.

Unchecked water loss within water supply systems is a public concern: it wastes public money, hinders the economy, and risks long-term water scarcity. Previous studies and surveys about water loss demonstrate the long-held belief that maintaining robust water service infrastructure is key to an efficient and sustainable water system. This survey report constitutes a first step, by providing a baseline of current water loss practices and policies among water supply utilities that can be used to support collaboration in developing strategies for improvement. This report also acts as a case study in data collection and benchmarking that can be used to develop water loss control solutions and improve public reporting.

The Smart Water for Smart Regions initiative offers a blueprint for the responsible and sustainable utilization of water in the Great Lakes states, working with communities to minimize leaks and reduce flooding through cost-effective, coordinated solutions including.

Stormwater runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. When rain falls in undeveloped areas, the water is absorbed and filtered by soil and plants. When rain falls on our roofs, streets, and parking lots, however, the water cannot soak into the ground. In most urban areas, stormwater is drained through engineered collection systems and discharged into nearby water bodies. The stormwater carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the urban landscape, polluting the receiving waters. Higher flows also can cause erosion and flooding in urban streams, damaging habitat, property, and infrastructure.

U.S. Gallup polls indicate that individuals living in rural and small-town communities have a hostile view towards immigrants in the United States. In 2019 People’s Action launched a campaign in Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania with the goal of “building a bigger we”, or community development that includes immigrants and refugees. Through the utilization of deep canvassing, People’s Action hoped to reshape voters’ worldview and aid them in realizing that immigrants and people of color are not the drivers of scarcity and minimal job opportunities, but are equally impacted by the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The results of this campaign show that deep canvassing was effective in persuading voters of all backgrounds to become more supportive to immigrants.

Organizers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and North Carolina conducted interviews with over 900 Latinx immigrants (including nearly 400 undocumented community members) about the important issues facing immigrant communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This infographic features snippets of the stories shared; common themes include financial hardship and illness, compounded by a lack of government support.

Corporations and their political allies deploy state preemption to stop local progress and block the abilities of local governments to act on the values and needs of their communities. This report uses data from Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee to demonstrate how communities, particularly low-income women of color, are working towards equitable policies around paid sick days, wages, and affordable housing, only to be blocked at the state level by lawmakers caving to corporate pressure or following an anti-regulation agenda.

Today more than ever, businesses need employees who are well prepared to succeed in a competitive economy. But the current workforce pipeline is not sufficient - not for businesses that need highly-skilled staff, not for young people who need good paying jobs, and not for the nation that needs a growing economy. When processes fail, business leaders do not look for solutions after the fact - they look upstream to prevent them from happening in the first place. The foundation for success starts in the earliest years of children's lives, when they begin to develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviors they need to do well in school and beyond. To fix our failing workforce pipeline, we need to help our children get the good start in life that will enable them to succeed.

Crumbling water infrastructure leads to nearly six billion gallons of expensive, treated water lost every day in America. Leaky, aging pipes and outdated systems are wasting an estimated 14 to 18 percent of our nation’s daily water use. Water loss from failing infrastructure, faulty metering, and flat-out theft costs money, and can mean lost revenue for utilities and higher rates for water users. With increasing demand, maintenance and energy costs within the water industry, rates are already rising. Between 1996 and 2010, the cost of water services in the US rose by nearly 90 percent. Given this increase it is essential that we quickly adopt effective water loss control practices.

This report examines the resources that several U.S. cities are devoting to “green infrastructure” and analyzes their early experiences with alternative stormwater management. This report defines and describes green infrastructure; discusses barriers to green infrastructure implementation by local governments; and reviews the funding and personnel devoted to green infrastructure by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, City of Chicago, City of Philadelphia, City of Seattle, and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.